1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high frequency crystal oscillator using a quartz-crystal element (hereinafter referred to as high frequency oscillator), in particular, to a high frequency oscillator that can be reduced in size and that can prevent noise from taking place.
2. Description of the Related Art
A high frequency oscillator is used for a digital information communication network and so forth. Since the frequency stability is required, a crystal oscillator is used as a high frequency oscillator. In addition, since the output frequency of a high frequency oscillator is a high frequency band of for example 622.08 MHz, the oscillation frequency of the crystal oscillator is multiplied so as to obtain an output frequency. Moreover, to transmit a digital signal, a voltage control type high frequency oscillator is generally used. In recent years, there are needs for reducing the size of such a high frequency oscillator.
As such an example, a high frequency oscillator disclosed as Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-244682 (hereinafter referred to as related reference 1) is known.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a circuit of a high frequency oscillator according to the related reference 1.
The high frequency oscillator shown in FIG. 1 comprises a voltage control type crystal oscillator 1, a surface acoustic wave filter (SAW filter) 2, and a wide frequency band amplifier 3. The crystal oscillator 1 has a resonance circuit and an oscillation transistor 5. The resonance circuit is composed of a quartz-crystal element 4, which is an inductor, and split capacitors C1 and C2. The oscillation transistor 5 feedback-amplifies the resonance frequency. The oscillator having such a structure is referred to as Colpits type oscillator.
The oscillation frequency is slightly lower than the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit due to a circuit capacitance other than the split capacitors C1 and C2. In this example, the oscillation frequency is 155.52 MHz that is the fundamental frequency.
The base, the emitter, and the collector of the oscillation transistor 5 are connected to one terminal of the quartz-crystal element 4, the connected point of the split capacitors C1 and C2, and a power supply Vcc, respectively. A voltage variable capacitance device for example a variable capacitance diode 6 is connected between the other terminal of the quartz-crystal element 4 of the resonance circuit and the ground. As a result, the oscillation transistor 5 of voltage control type is accomplished. A control voltage Vc is applied to the quartz-crystal element 4 through a high frequency stopping resistor R1. The control voltage Vc is an inverse voltage against the variable capacitance diode 6. With the control voltage Vc, the oscillation frequency is varied.
In the high frequency oscillator shown in FIG. 1, the resistance ratio of a base resistor R2 and a bias resistor R3 of the oscillation transistor 5 and the resistance ratio of a collector side load resistor R4 and an emitter side load resistor R5 of the oscillation transistor 5 are properly set so that a center voltage V00 of an oscillation output signal V0 is higher than a center voltage Vcc0 of the power supply voltage Vcc. In addition, a top portion of the waveform of the oscillation output signal Vo that is normally a sine wave is distorted as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the levels of higher harmonic components (f2 to fn) against the fundamental frequency f1 of the oscillation output signal Vo are increased.
The SAW filter 2 is structured in such a manner that interdigital transducers are formed on a surface of a piezo-electric substrate (not shown). The piezo-electric substrate is composed of lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) that has a large coupling coefficient so as to accomplish a wide frequency band and a low insertion loss. The higher harmonic component f4 (622.08 MHz) that is four times higher than the fundamental signal f1 is selected from the oscillation output voltage Vo by the filter and the SAW filter output it.
The wide frequency band amplifier 3 is a last-staged amplifier composed of a linear IC amplifier of which an output level against an input level becomes linear. In addition, the wide frequency band amplifier 3 causes the waveform of the input signal to be kept and the level of the output frequency to be placed in a predetermined value. Because of the features of a low power consumption and a high amplification factor, a linear IC amplifier is used for a last-staged amplifier. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the power supply voltage Vcc is 3.3 V. In FIG. 3, reference symbol C3 represents a coupling capacitance. As long as a particular higher harmonic component can be amplified, it is not necessary to always use a wide frequency band amplifier.
As another example, a high frequency oscillator disclosed as Japanese Patent Application No. HEI 11-329318 (hereinafter referred to as related reference 2) is known.
In the related reference 2, instead of distorting an output waveform of a crystal oscillator, an oscillation output is amplified using a saturation region of a wide frequency band amplifier so that the levels of the higher harmonic components (f2 to fn) become almost the same as the level of the fundamental frequency f1. As with the related reference 1, a higher harmonic component whose frequency is four times higher than the frequency of the fundamental frequency f1 is selected by a SAW filter and the selected higher harmonic component is amplified.
Since the high frequency oscillators according to the related references 1 and 2 can be basically composed of three devices of a voltage control type crystal oscillator 1, a SAW filter 2, and a wide frequency band amplifier 3 or four devices including thereof. Thus, the number of structural devices of these high frequency oscillators can be decreased. Thus, according to each of the related references, the size of the high frequency oscillator can be remarkably reduced in comparison with a so-called high frequency multiplying amplifier of which an oscillation frequency (fundamental frequency) of for example a crystal oscillator is amplified by a plurality of stages of multiplying amplifiers each of which is an LC resonance circuit. For example, the volume of the high frequency oscillator according to the related reference 1 is smaller than xe2x85x9 times the volume of the above-mentioned high frequency multiplying oscillator.
However, the high frequency oscillators according to the related references have the following problem due to the presence of the SAW filter 2.
As was described above, the piezo-electric substrate that composes the SAW filter 2 is mode of lithium tantalate that has a large coupling coefficient. However, since lithium tantalate has a property of ferroelectricity, it has a pyroelectricity effect. The pyroelectricity effect is a phenomenon of which a large temperature change causes a potential to take place at two points of a crystal and the potential causes an electric discharge to take place. With this phenomenon, pulses of the electric discharge are detected on the output side of the SAW filter.
The pulses that take place caused by this phenomenon on the output side of the SAW filter 2 are amplified by the wide frequency band amplifier 3. Thus, the pulses cause noise to take place in the output frequency signal of the high frequency oscillator. This situation results in a critical problem of a communication unit that is used outdoors in a severe environment of there is a large temperature change.
A technology for preventing an electric discharge and pulses due to the pyroelectricity effect to take place has been proposed and used (for example, as Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. SHO 63-67363). According to such a technology, a resistor film made of chromium (Cr) or the like is deposited on the front surface of the SAW filter and grounded so that pulses due to an electric discharge by the pyroelectricity effect are prevented from taking place. However, in reality, it is difficult to accomplish a thin film of chromium (Cr) having a high resistance. Thus, such a technology cannot sufficiently solve the above-described problem.
An object of the present invention is to provide a high frequency oscillator that prevents noise from taking place. Another object of the present invention is to provide a high frequency oscillator that allows the number of structural devices to be decreased and thereby the size the final unit to be reduced.
The present invention is based on a high frequency crystal oscillator for increasing the levels of higher harmonic components against the level of a fundamental frequency of a oscillating circuit using a quartz-crystal element, selecting any higher harmonic component by a surface acoustic wave filter, amplifying the selected higher harmonic component, and obtaining a high frequency oscillation output signal, wherein a piezo-electric substrate that composes the surface acoustic wave filter is a crystal substrate.
A first aspect of the high frequency crystal oscillator according to the present invention comprises a crystal oscillating unit for causing the center voltage of an oscillation output signal to be higher than the center voltage of a power supply voltage so as to distort an output signal and output the output signal, and a surface acoustic wave filter for extracting a particular frequency component of the output signal of the crystal oscillator unit, a piezo-electric substrate of the crystal oscillator unit being a crystal substrate.
A second aspect of the high frequency crystal oscillator according to the present invention comprises an oscillating unit using a quartz-crystal element, an amplifying unit for amplifying higher harmonic components of an output signal of the oscillating unit, and a surface acoustic wave filter for selectively outputting a particular frequency higher harmonic component of an output signal amplified by the amplifying unit, a piezo-electric substrate of the surface acoustic wave filter being a crystal substrate.
According to the present invention, since pulses due to the pyroelectricity effect that takes place in a surface acoustic wave filter are suppressed, the high frequency oscillator can be used in a severe environment of which there is a large temperature change.
In addition, the size of the high frequency oscillator according to the present invention can be reduced in comparison with a conventional high frequency oscillator.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of a best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.